Behind-the-scenes: How Do We Select Books For a Library Refurbishment and Why Do We Focus on Diverse Books?

Ever wonder how we select the books for our library refurbishments when there is such a dizzying array of great books to be considered? Luckily enough, we have not just one, but two librarians at the helm, Executive Director, Amanda Collins and Director of Fundraising, Cathy Cheng. They expertly navigate the landscape of diverse children’s literature to curate a book collection children will cherish. 

Director of Fundraising, Cathy Cheng, sorting books for one of our library refurbishments 

This process of book selection and ordering requires research, creativity and weeks of work. 

Our team works really hard to ensure each school library receives books that reflect the diversity of the school population it serves. They also find the most efficient ways to use the funds we receive from our generous sponsors, partners and individuals. 

School Book Collection Analysis 

Before the team can begin ordering books, they need to analyze the existing book collection at the school library. 

• Physical inspection: Checking condition, quality, and relevance of existing books. This is done mostly by team members Alison Guan and Linda Forrester.

• Record analysis: Reviewing library data such as average collection age, books per student, and percentage of diverse titles. This data is used to identify gaps and tailor book selection accordingly. 

  
  

For example, at Franklin Elementary, where many students are Vietnamese, we added titles in Vietnamese to better represent their heritage, some of which include: 

‘Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival’ as recounted by Tuan Ho to multi-award-winning author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and illustrated by the celebrated Brian Deines. 

Winner of Moonbeam Children's Book Awards 2015 Gold Medal, ‘Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories’ retold by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran and illustrated by Dong Nguyen and Hop Thi Nguyen.

Selecting New Books

We source books from three main channels:

1. Donations

2. First Book Marketplace (discounted books for Title I schools, but with limited selection and processing needs)

3. Follett (more expensive, but the most comprehensive and customizable option)
   

Using Follett’s ordering system, Amanda and Cathy filter for criteria such as:

• Published within the last five years

• Positive critical reviews

• Authors from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities

  
  

The goal is always the same: a diverse, high-interest collection that excites kids and maximizes donor dollars. Having credentialed librarians select books adds considerable value as they are trained in collection development and immersed in the world of children’s literature on a daily basis.  

Feedback from School Staff for Book Selection 

We also rely on staff input. The Principal at McKinley Elementary described the status of their school’s library in these words and helped us identify the diversity of languages our collection needed to cater to.  

“Our multilingual section is not attractive, and newcomer students or students looking for books in Spanish or Vietnamese rarely find appealing reads (...) Our students love our library, but it is heartbreaking to not be able to offer them more”

A photo of McKinley Library after the refurbishment 

Brand-new, diverse books ready to be processed for one of our library refurbishments 

Why Diverse Books Matter

First Book, a nonprofit that provides books, resources and programs to educators, professionals and volunteers serving kids in low-income communities, studied the impact of increasing access to diverse books in classroom environments on student reading and students’ reading scores. These are the key findings from the study:

Students’ reading scores increased after educators added diverse books to their classroom libraries. The increases were 3 points higher (+9) than nationally expected average yearly gains.

Students spent 4 more hours reading per week after educators added diverse books to their classroom libraries. 70% of educators reported that their students more often choose books that feature characters that look like them. 

This is why we prioritize adding  diverse new books for every school library. But there is always room for popular series on our list. You can’t go wrong with Dav Pilkey or Mo Willems now, can you?

Children enjoying new books at the Hoover Community School library refurbished in September 2024

This is but a mere glimpse into the hard work that happens behind the scenes and the incredible team that comes together to execute it —conducting analyses, stretching resources and using their knowledge as librarians to ensure a diverse book collection that fosters a love of reading in children with limited access to books.

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